Advancing economies of equality and care: contributing to UCLG’s GOLD VII process

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is a global network of cities and local, regional and metropolitan governments and their associations. Every three years, it produces a flagship report through the Global Observatory on Local Democracy and Decentralisation (GOLD), in partnership with representatives from local and regional governments (LRGs), research and civil society organisations.  

Each GOLD report highlights the action of LRGs worldwide and evaluates the progress and setbacks on local democracy and decentralisation. GOLD reports are drawn up by leading regional specialists working in close consultation with local elected representatives and government practitioners in all major world regions with experience on the ground.

GOLD VII aims to drive action-oriented, multi-stakeholder collaboration to explore how LRGs can champion ‘economies of equality and care’ in their cities and territories. The GOLD VII process follows a collaborative and flexible research approach that will yield a ‘multimedia journal’ showcasing contributions by UCLG’s members, networks and key partners.

What is IIED doing? 

IIED is engaging the GOLD VII process in three ways: 

• Strategic coalition: UCLG is convening a strategic coalition with representatives from several organisations to support, steer and advise the GOLD VII process. IIED is part of this coalition to provide feedback on the process as well as strategic advice for the dissemination and uptake of the research.
   
• Overarching narratives of economies of equality and care: IIED is collaborating with UCLG to develop the overarching narrative that captures the main messages, recommendations and strategies for action emerging from the different contributions to the GOLD VII multimedia journal in each of its stages. 
  
  These will address key guiding questions of the GOLD VII process, including: how to advance care as an aspiration and inspiration in local public action (stage 1); what is the necessary infrastructure for caring cities and regions (stage 2); and what are the resources and reforms needed to enable LRGs to leverage care to transform local public action (stage 3).  
   
• Special contribution: IIED is developing a thematic contribution to the GOLD VII process on ‘housing as an infrastructure of care’, drawing from housing justice work’. The contribution also aims to link housing with wider discussions about care, and other thematic entry points such as health, finance, culture, conflict, food, social and climate justice. 
  
  This will strengthen the case for prioritising housing justice through the Local Social Covenant, a UCLG-led platform shaping global commitments on social justice and sustainability at major 2025 summits.

This work builds on a long history of collaboration between IIED and UCLG in highlighting the key role played by LRGs in advancing social and climate justice. This has included the participation of IIED in the steering group of the GOLD VI report on pathways to urban equality (2020-2022), as well as the publication of a paper on locally-led efforts to advance SDGs and the right to adequate housing and a report on rethinking housing policies.

Over the summer of 2025, IIED produced a summary (PDF) of the first stage of the GOLD VII process 'Care as aspiration and inspiration'. Further IIED contributions to GOLD VII will be published later in 2025 and early 2026.